Sentenced to Death
by The Queen of Cold
Summary: When Duncan is caught standing over Mike's dead body, holding the murder weapon, it looks like that's the end of it. But when Courtney is assigned to his case, she is determined to win to get further up in the world. Will Courtney be able to get Duncan off the hook? Will her reasons for winning the case be more than just professional? Set five years after the end of All-Stars.
1. Accused

**Chapter One: Accused**

Duncan is still holding his pocket knife up when the police arrive next to the bar. He's standing frozen on the sidewalk, unable to comprehend the reality of what's just happened. One of the officers snatches the knife from him while the other puts his hands in handcuffs.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Mike Posey, do you understand? You have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay. We will provide you with a toll-free telephone lawyer referral service, if you do not have your own lawyer. Anything you say can be used in court as evidence. Do you understand? Would you like to speak to a lawyer?" the officer handcuffing him asks. Duncan nods, unable to say anything from the initial shock of it all. Everything is going in slow motion. He can't hear the sirens, or the uncontrollable sobbing of Anne Maria. All he can think about is Mike's lifeless eyes staring up at him as the pool of blood continued to spread, staining the snow.

The officer shoves Duncan into the police car with unnecessary force and slams the door before getting into the car himself. They drive off, sirens blaring, and Duncan rests his head on the window as he watches the city go by.

* * *

"The client's name is Duncan Colleano," Courtney's boss, Mr Johnson, says, slamming the file down on the desk in front of her. The name doesn't phase her, in fact she barely recognises it. It's been so long since she's seen him that it feels like it was all just a bad dream she had. "Accused of the murder of Mike Posey." _That's just a coincidence, _she tells herself. She opens the file to see Duncan's mug shot staring up at her and her head snaps up to look at her boss.

"I think there's been some kind of mistake," Courtney says confidently, closing the file and sliding it back towards her boss. He pushes it back.

"No mistake, this is your client," Johnson tells her with a scheming grin. "He hasn't said anything in relation to the murder at all, so he'll be easy to work with. The kid's smart, he probably learnt that from you." Courtney gives a short laugh.

"He's a lot of things, but smart isn't one of them," she mutters, looking over the file. "Is there any chance I can just not take him on?"

"Not if you want to keep your job," Johnson says simply. Courtney huffs.

"I will not have my image tarnished by some low-life who probably actually committed the crime he's being accused of!" she protests. Johnson leans over the desk to her so that she can smell his garlic breath. She grimaces but doesn't back away, not wanting to seem weak.

"Listen honey, you're washed up, old news," he tells her. "Nobody remembers that little reality stunt you had five years ago. You're a lawyer now, and if you want to move on up in the world, you'll take the case and quit complaining, okay?" He sits back down and Courtney plasters on a smile. She stands up and clears her throat.

"Fine, I will take the case." She picks up the file and heads toward the door.

"Oh, and Courtney?" Johnson calls. She turns back around to face him. "If you lose the case on purpose, that'll tarnish your image more than the guy you're representing." Courtney grits her teeth and glares at him. She forcefully opens the door and storms out of the office.

* * *

Duncan listens to the calming sound of his cellmates harmonica as they lay on their bunk beds. He hums along to the strangely familiar tune.

"Hey dude, Topher is it? What is that song?" Duncan asks, but before Topher gets the chance to respond, the security guard opens the cell.

"Your lawyer's here, Duncan," she announces. Duncan scrambles out of his bed and the security guard takes him by the arm. They walk down the halls of the prison in what Duncan thinks is an awkward silence.

"So, I've got a lawyer huh?" he says, trying to keep it from being awkward. "Is it a boy or girl?"

"It's a girl, not that I need to tell you because you'll be meeting her soon," the security guard snaps. Duncan nods.

"That's cool, that's cool," he says. "Is she hot? What's her name?" The security guard sighs in annoyance.

"Courtney Holland-Free, okay? Stop asking questions," she demands. Duncan stops in his tracks, causing the security guard to halt, taken aback by the unscheduled delay.

"Courtney? I don't think so," he says in denial. The security guard drags him back into a walk. "There has to be some kind of mistake." The security guard ignores him and they finally arrive at the interview room. When they enter, Duncan sees Courtney sitting at the desk. He turns to the security guard. "Any chance I can get a different lawyer?" The security guard smirks.

"Sure, if you can pay for one," she says. Courtney nods at the security guard and she takes her leave. Duncan hesitantly takes a seat across from Courtney.

"Hey princess, miss me?" he asks with a small smile. Courtney sighs.

"Mr Colleano, you will refer to me as Miss Holland-Free from this moment on," she informs him.

"Miss? So you aren't married then?" he asks with a smirk. "I would've thought by now you'd have tricked some poor guy into a marriage." She smiles thinly at him.

"This is a business meeting, Mr Colleano, personal questions are neither relevant or appropriate," Courtney says.

"Please, call me Duncan," Duncan tells her.

"Let's skip the formalities, shall we? You're accused of the murder of Mike Posey, what's your plea?" she asks, opening his file and glancing over the basic information.

"Not guilty," he says.

"Duncan, you were found standing over his dead body holding the murder weapon, do you really think people are going to believe that?" Courtney asks. Duncan folds his arms as best he can with the handcuffs on.

"I didn't do it," he says simply. "I don't know who did but it wasn't me." Courtney sighs again.

"Okay, do you have an alibi?" she demands.

"I was in the bathroom."

"Any witnesses?"

"Sure, a whole bar full of people," Duncan tells her.

"Great, we'll have to find everyone who was in the bar on that night at the time of his murder," Courtney says to herself. "How about you just tell me what happened that night?"

"Do I have to?" Duncan asks.

"I'm here to help you," Courtney reminds him in frustration. "Do you really think I want to keep working for people who can't afford their own lawyer? No. As much as I would love to see you locked up for the rest of your life, I also want to eventually end up working for someone like Smiths and Co."

"Who?" he asks.

"It doesn't matter!" Courtney snaps. "The thing is that I need to win you this case as much as you want to be released. I'm not going to lose this case on purpose, so you're going to have to trust me one hundred per cent. Do you think you can do that?" Duncan nods reluctantly.

"Fine," he agrees. "So I went to the bar to meet Mike because he owed me money from about a month ago," Duncan explains. "He showed up with Zoey, and I decided it would be better to do the exchange outside. He gave me the money and I went inside to use the bathroom. When I came out, I really needed a cigarette, so I went outside to have one and when I got there I saw Mike's dead body just laying there in the snow." Courtney nods and writes down notes as Duncan tells the story.

"Why were you holding the murder weapon?" she asks, not looking up from her note writing.

"I recognised that the knife was mine so I grabbed it, I didn't even think about what it would look like to anyone else," he tells her. Courtney looks up at him.

"You've done a lot of stupid things in your life, but this is by far the stupidest," she says. Duncan glares at her.

"I thought that this was a professional meeting," he reminds her. She smiles.

"It is, that was my professional opinion," Courtney tells him. "Is there anything else you think you should tell me?" Duncan ponders this for a moment but shakes his head. "Okay we have a lot of work to do, but I'm sure I'll be able to get you out of this mess, as long as you remain completely honest with me. I know that's not something you're used to, but we'll work on that too." Courtney pats his cheek and leaves the room, file in hand. She turns to the security guard on her way out. "He's all yours."


	2. The Defence

**Chapter Two: The Defence**

Courtney walks into the courtroom at the same Duncan is escorted in by the bailiff, and they sit at their desk. Courtney shuffles some papers around while Duncan twiddles his thumbs nervously as he waits to be called to the stand. The jury and viewers enter and take their seats.

"All rise," the bailiff commands. Everybody stands as the judge enters and takes his seat. "You may be seated." Everyone returns to their seats and turns their attention to the judge.

"Court is in session," the judge announces, banging his gavel.

"Would the defendant please take to the stand," the bailiff requests. Duncan stands, and with a quick glance at Courtney he takes his place on the stand. Courtney nods in encouragement. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do," Duncan swears.

"You may be seated," the bailiff informs him. Duncan sits.

"Mr Duncan Colleano, you have been accused for the murder of Mike Posey. You have pled not guilty. Miss Holland-Free, you may begin questioning the defendant." Courtney rises, taking her notes with her.

"Mr Colleano, did you know the victim personally?" she asks. Duncan leans in to the microphone.

"Yes," he replies.

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"I'd met him in juvy when I was fifteen, and again during Total Drama All-Stars five years ago," Duncan tells the jury.

"What were you doing on the night of the murder?" Courtney questions.

"I had gone to the bar to meet Mike because he owed me money."

"Why was it that he owed you money?"

"I ran into him a few months ago at a poker match," Duncan explains. "He kept saying 'one more round', but he was all out of cash. He thought he couldn't lose, but he did and I told him as long as he eventually gave me the money he owed me, he didn't have to cough up that night."

"And did Mike give you the money?" Courtney asks.

"Yeah, so after he did I went to the bathroom," Duncan says. "When I came back outside for a smoke he was already dead." Courtney smiles at Duncan in approval.

"No further questions, your honour," Courtney tells the judge.

"Mr Jones you may cross-examine the defendant," the judge tells the other lawyer.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would like to begin by presenting you with a picture that a paparazzo took on the night of the murder of Mr Posey," Mr Jones announces. He turns on a projector which shines onto a white canvas. The picture shows Duncan pushing Mike against the wall threateningly. Duncan silently curses himself and Courtney puts her head in her hands in frustration. "Would you care to explain what's happening in this picture?" Duncan sighs.

"I'm threatening Mike to give me the money he owed me," he explains. Mr Jones smiles.

"Did you or did you not just say that you had gone to the bar because Mr Posey was going to give you the money he owed you?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think he had..."

"And yet here it appears that he doesn't have the money that you wanted," Mr Jones interrupts.

"He did, I just didn't know..."

"Furthermore, did anyone actually _see _you go to the bathroom at the time of Mr Posey's death?" Mr Jones asks, raising his voice to be heard over Duncan.

"No, but I didn't..." Duncan tries again.

"So you had the motive to do it, and _conveniently_, no one saw you go to the bathroom?"

"How is that convenient for me?" Duncan wonders, getting worried.

"Objection your honour!" Courtney yells, standing up.

"Overruled!" the judge replies, banging his gavel. Courtney sits back down, offended that her objection had been overruled.

"You were found standing over the body, holding the murder weapon which had no other fingerprints on it..." Mr Jones continues, as if Courtney hadn't interrupted.

"Of course it had my prints on it, it's my pocket knife!" Duncan shouts, but he immediately knows it was the wrong thing to say. Mr Jones smiles smugly at Duncan before turning to the judge.

"No further questions."

* * *

The security guard throws Duncan into the interview room and as soon as she's gone, Courtney starts ripping into him.

"That was the worst thing you could have said!" she scolds him. "It's winter, someone was probably wearing gloves, why didn't you just say that?"

"I'm not good at thinking on the spot," Duncan says defensively.

"And that picture? What were you thinking?" Courtney demands. "I asked you if there was anything you needed to tell me and you said no! It didn't occur to you that the fact that you threatened the victim minutes before he died might have been important?"

"I didn't think it would come up," Duncan replies. "How was I supposed to know someone was watching me?"

"You were on TV, Duncan!" Courtney reminds him angrily. "People are _always _watching you. This is a major setback. I'm going to have to prepare you to deal with more surprises like this, aren't I?"

"I don't think so," Duncan says. "I mean, I didn't do anything else."

"Are you absolutely positive?" Courtney asks forcefully. "If you can't be honest with me then this arrangement isn't going to work."

"I know!" Duncan snaps, tired of Courtney pressing him for answers. "There's nothing else."

"Okay. Well they probably aren't going to get you on the stand tomorrow anyway, so we'll have time to think about how we're going to respond," Courtney tells him. Duncan nods in understanding. She furrows her brow as she spreads out sheets of paper from the file. Duncan rests his head in his hand as he watches her. Courtney looks flustered and slightly worried. Duncan puts his hand over hers gently and she looks up at him in confusion as her heart does a little flip. _What was that? _she wonders angrily to herself.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," he assures her. She takes a deep breath in and nods. She shouldn't have needed to hear those words, but they brought comfort to her, especially since Duncan's voice was so calm. It was strange to hear it that way. Strange, but refreshing.

"I know," she tells him with a small smile. "We'll get you out of this." With the evidence at hand, neither of them believe that it will actually be possible to get Duncan out of it, but that didn't mean they had to say it out loud.


	3. Allegations

**Chapter Three: Allegations**

"Could Zoey Cordwell please take to the stand," the bailiff requests the next day. Zoey walks up to the stand and agrees to the oath before sitting down. She looks as if she hasn't slept in weeks, and she probably hasn't.

"She looks terrible!" Duncan whispers to Courtney.

"Well wouldn't you if you'd just lost the love of your life forever?" she hisses back. Duncan nods.

"Yeah," he replies, furrowing his brow as if something's just dawned on him. "Yeah I guess you're right." Courtney stands up and begins to cross-examine Zoey.

"Miss Cordwell," Courtney addresses her. "You were the fiancé of the deceased, is this correct?" Zoey nods.

"Yes," she says quietly. Zoey looks like she's about to cry. How she has any tears left is a mystery to Courtney, since she's more than likely been crying since she found out about Mike's death. Courtney's heart breaks a little for the girl.

"What were you doing on the night of his murder?" Courtney asks, trying to remain professional, which is hard since Zoey is clearly traumatised by the whole situation.

"I'd gone to the bar with Mike for moral support," she begins.

* * *

_Zoey and Mike enter the bar hand-in-hand and look around for any sign of Duncan in the crowded area. Mike spots him and points so that Zoey can see him too._

_ "He's over there," he tells her. "Are you sure you're okay with being here?" The bar is kind of shady, and Zoey is trying to avoid touching anything, which is difficult since there are so many people and they keep bumping into her._

_ "Yeah, it's fine," she assures him. They walk over to the booth that Duncan is in. He's drinking a beer and as soon as he sees Mike he stands up, but he soon spots Zoey and he frowns._

_ "Why'd you bring her?" he wonders angrily. Mike pulls Zoey closer to him defensively. "Whatever, let's just get this over and done with. We should go outside, though." Duncan glances back up at Zoey. "And she stays here." Duncan and Mike head outside and Mike glances back at Zoey apologetically._

* * *

"I didn't feel comfortable being in that place by myself, so I texted Mike saying I'd meet him at home and I left," Zoey concludes. Her eyes seemed to have dried up slightly and she's speaking clearer. Courtney nods.

"Were you aware of the poker match that occurred between Mike and my client?" she asks.

"No, he's never gambled before in his life," Zoey replies. "His dad used to take him to horse races and encouraged him to bet, but he never did."

"What did Mike tell you he owed the accused for, if not for the poker game?" Courtney wonders. Zoey shrugs sheepishly.

"He didn't say it was for anything, he just said he owed Duncan money," she replies.

"You didn't ask him what it was for?"

"I trust my fiancé more than anything in the world," Zoey says firmly. "Why should I question anything he did?" Courtney smiles sadly, wishing she was able to trust someone that much. The problem is that when she's suspicious of something, she's usually right. She glances back at Duncan while she thinks about this and he's slouched in his chair, looking incredibly bored. She looks down sadly but quickly turns her attention back to Zoey.

"Mike has a dissociative identity disorder," Courtney reminds Zoey. "Is there any chance that something triggered one of the personalities that made him go to the poker game?"

"He _had _dissociative identity disorder," Zoey snaps. "He got rid of that five years ago, when we finished All-Stars." Courtney gives a short laugh.

"D-I-D doesn't just disappear," she informs Zoey. "Is it possible that he just told you that for some kind of personal reason? Maybe he thought it would ruin your relationship?"

"I don't think you understood me," Zoey says coldly. "I trust my fiancé. He didn't have dissociative identity disorder anymore." Courtney grits her teeth in frustration.

"But is there any way…" she begins.

"I'm not answering anymore questions," Zoey announces, standing up. Courtney glares at her and returns to her seat.

"Don't worry, you'll get her next time," Duncan whispers to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Ugh!" Courtney says angrily, brushing Duncan's hand off her shoulder. "I don't need your sympathy, I need you to stop being guilty of committing this crime!" she hisses.

"You don't believe I didn't do it?" he asks, hurt. Courtney doesn't reply, she just folds her arms and turns her body away from him. "I can't believe that you think I would kill a man for a few hundred dollars!"

"People have killed for less," she hisses, almost threateningly.

"Miss Cordwell, please sit down," the judge scolds Zoey. She does as she's told and Mr Jones stands up and begins his cross-examination.

"Miss Cordwell, did you run into anyone else while you were at the bar that night?" Mr Jones asks.

"Look, what Zoey said just then isn't even how it happened!" Duncan breathes, trying not to look like he's still talking. "After I came back inside…"

"We'll talk about it later," Courtney hisses. Duncan huffs and slouches a little more in his chair.

"I saw Ann Maria," Zoey answers Mr Jones.

"Did she say anything to you?" Mr Jones asks. Zoey shakes her head.

"No, I waved to her but she just glared at me and went back to whatever it was she was doing," Zoey replies. Mr Jones nods thoughtfully.

"Okay. Thank you Miss Cordwell," he says, returning to his seat.

"Miss Cordwell you may stand down," the bailiff grants her. Zoey gives him a small, quivering smile and walks back to her seat.

* * *

Courtney is sitting on the floor of her apartment, papers strewn all around her. She hears a knock at the door.

"It's open," she calls without glancing up. Gwen enters and lets out a low whistle at all of the papers surrounding Courtney. Courtney stands up and gives Gwen a hug. "Thank God you're here! Oh and you brought wine!" She takes the bottle from Gwen and pours two glasses.

"What is all of this?" Gwen asks as Courtney hands her the glass of wine. Courtney sighs.

"Research, for Duncan's case," she replies. "He swears he didn't do it, but honestly it's the only thing that makes sense. There aren't even any other suspects. Do you want to help?"

"Yeah, sure," Gwen agrees. They sit on the floor and Courtney takes a sip of wine before going into the details.

"So this afternoon at the trial, Zoey swore that Mike had never gambled," Courtney begins. "She also swore that he had completely gotten rid of his other personalities, which is ridiculous because people don't just get rid of their alternate personalities, not as easily as she claimed Mike had. So now I'm going through his medical records to see if any of his personalities were gamblers and if any signs of them started showing up after Zoey says they were gone."

"Any luck so far?" Gwen asks.

"No," Courtney replies in disappointment. "But I've been writing down the characteristics of each of the personalities, and the most likely to be gamblers are Vito or Manitoba."

"Have you talked to Duncan about how Mike was acting that night?"

"Like he would have noticed!" Courtney scoffs. "I guess I should ask him, though. I also want to talk to Mike's doctor, since medical records don't always reveal everything. Keep looking though, I don't want to miss anything." The two girls search through the records for what seems like hours before Gwen finally finds something worthwhile.

"Court, look at this," she says. "This is dated almost two months after All-Stars finished. It looks like Vito started coming back."

"Yeah and this one says there were signs of Chester that started to show up early after All-Stars as well," Courtney adds. "I don't get it, though. How could Zoey not know there was something up with a guy she knew inside and out and saw every day?"

"Maybe she did know, she just chose to ignore it because she didn't want to believe there was a possibility she was losing the love of her life to his own mind. Again." Gwen sighs. "It's getting late, I should go." She stands up and Courtney gives her a hug and watches her leave. She picks up her phone and dials a number.

"Hello, yes this is Courtney Holland-Free," she says when the person on the other end answers. "Dr Knightly, I was hoping I could speak to you about a patient of yours, Mike Posey?"


	4. Truth and Betrayal

**Chapter Four: Truth and Betrayal**

"What are you doing here?" Duncan asks in the interview room the next day. "You were going to see me in an hour anyway."

"I need you to describe Mike on the night of the poker match," Courtney demands, getting straight to the point.

"I don't know, it's Mike!" Duncan replies. "He was stupid and boring." Courtney rolls her eyes.

"That's not what I meant," she sighs. "Is there any possibility he wasn't actually Mike? Maybe he was one of his other personalities?"

"Didn't Zoey already tell you that he got rid of those?" Duncan reminds her.

"Yes but his medical records suggest otherwise," Courtney says. "What was he wearing? Do you remember?"

"What he usually wears I guess, I don't know I don't pay attention to clothes," Duncan replies. Courtney looks him straight in the eyes and doesn't blink.

"It's extremely important that you remember the little details," she tells him firmly. "Did he have a shirt on?" Duncan thinks back before nodding slowly. Courtney frowns and looks down at her notes. "What about a hat? In particular a fedora." Duncan squints his eyes, trying to remember.

"Yeah, and he was putting on a dumb accent," he tells her.

"Really? Was it an Australian accent?" Courtney asks.

"It might have been trying to be but I don't think it really was," Duncan says. Courtney laughs and Duncan smiles, pleased he was able to get that kind of response from her.

"Okay, well it looks like you were gambling with Manitoba, not Mike," Courtney informs him. He nods and Courtney stands to leave.

"Courtney," Duncan says softly. Courtney turns to look at him. "You don't really think I did it, do you? It wasn't even that much money, I wouldn't kill for that." Courtney shrugs.

"I don't know, Duncan," she tells him honestly. "The two biggest motives for murder are money and adultery, and at the moment you're the only one who has that kind of motive. But regardless of whether you did it or not, I'm still going to try and get you out, I promise." Duncan nods again and Courtney smiles at him sadly before leaving to prepare for the trial.

* * *

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Everyone knows that fifty per cent of the time, the husband or wife is the murderer," Courtney overhears Harold say as she walks into the courtroom an hour later. She'd noticed many of the past Total Drama contestants had been attending the trial over the few days it had been going. "The other fifty per cent of the time it's the guy with the mohawk." Harold glares at Duncan as Leshawna, who Harold's been talking to, rolls her eyes.

"Your honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Courtney addresses the court when the court has been put into session. "My client swears that he attended a poker match with the deceased Mike Posey, but Miss Zoey Cordwell assures us that her fiancé was never a gambler. Miss Cordwell also swears that Mr Posey's dissociative identity disorder had disappeared. I'd like to invite Mike's doctor, Dr Knightly, to the stand." The judge nods in approval.

"Dr Henry Knightly please take to the stand," the bailiff says. Mike's doctor does as he's told and nervously looks around the courtroom as he sits down. He swears to the oath and Courtney clears her throat before beginning.

"Dr Knightly, how long had Mike Posey been a patient of yours?" she asks.

"He first started coming to me when he was fourteen, so he'd been my patient for a bit over eight years," Dr Knightly replies.

"And when he told you he wanted to audition for Total Drama, you informed him it would be a bad idea, but he did it anyway. Is this correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"After he returned from Total Drama All-Stars, did it appear that his alternate personalities had disappeared, as he claimed?" Courtney wonders.

"Yes, it did appear that way for a short period of time," Dr Knightly admits. "But almost a week later he came to me saying he'd become incredibly frustrated and Chester had appeared. He was concerned that if his other personalities weren't gone, then Mal wouldn't be either, so he asked me to help him handle them better."

"Which you were able to do, so Zoey wouldn't have known if his personalities were back?" Courtney queries. The doctor nods.

"He did start getting better at controlling them, but he was still seeing me once a week up until his death," he replies.

"Did any of Mike's personalities have gambling tendencies?"

"Yes, Manitoba was known for placing a few bets and was often up for a game of poker," Dr Knightly informs her. Courtney smiles sweetly at him.

"Thank you, doctor. No further questions."

"Mr Jones, do you have any questions for Dr Knightly?" the judge asks. Jones shakes his head.

"No, your honour," he says.

"Call the next witness," the judge demands.

"Ann Maria Waters please take to the stand," the bailiff says. Ann Maria struts up to the stand as if it were a throne and smiles at the people in the courtroom like a queen. Courtney stands up again.

"Miss Waters, could you please tell us what you were doing on the night of Mike Posey's murder?" she requests. Ann Maria nods.

"Certainly," she says. "Me and my boyfriend Danny had gone out for drinks with some of our friends from high school, and we went to that bar where I saw Zoey and Mike."

"Zoey," Courtney starts, but she quickly corrects herself. "_Miss Cordwell_, said that she waved to you but you didn't respond. Why is that?"

"Because she stole my boyfriend!" Ann Maria replies angrily, as if it were obvious. "I was with Vito before she was ever with Mike, but he seemed to like her better! Wouldn't you be mad if some homewrecker stole your man?" Courtney wanted to tell Ann Maria that she _was_ mad, that she could relate. She wanted to say that it was incredibly heart-breaking, but she knew she had to remain professional.

"You were with someone new though, and it had been six years since then. Couldn't you at least be civil towards her?" Courtney asks.

"Objection! How is this relevant?" Mr Jones wonders.

"Sustained. Miss Holland-Free, please return to the matter at hand," the judge tells her. Courtney nods.

"Yes your honour, sorry."

"Look, that little red-head never even apologised, so I was kind of mad at her," Ann Maria answers, even though she isn't required to.

"Did you have any other interactions with the victim or his fiancé that night?" Courtney wonders.

"You bet I did!" Ann Maria says confidently.

"Would you care to recount the events of that night?"

"Like I said, I was out with my boyfriend and some friends from high school…"

* * *

_Ann Maria and her friends are sitting by the bar and are all laughing at a story Danny just recounted. Danny draws attention from the bartender._

_ "Another round!" he shouts over the noise of the other patrons. The bartender nods and begins making the drinks. Ann Maria looks away from the group for a moment and catches the eye of Zoey, someone she hasn't seen in almost six years. Zoey waves but Ann Maria refuses to return the courtesy. She notices that Zoey is walking with Mike to one of the booths but they disappear behind a pillar and Ann Maria loses them. She turns back to her group who have received their drinks._

_ "Yo Ann Maria," Danny says with a grin. "Shauna was just saying how you two did a fashion shoot for the school newsletter when you was in school. That true?" Ann Maria smiles back at him._

_ "Yeah baby, we were the two hottest girls in school, isn't that right Shauna?" she tells him with a wink. She turns back around to see if she can see Zoey and Mike, and she watches as Mike leaves the bar with a man she's never seen before._

* * *

"Did the man look like my client?" Courtney asks, gesturing to Duncan. Ann Maria studies him for a moment.

"Yeah, that's the guy," Ann Maria assures her. "So Mike and that guy go outside, and I decide to follow them."

* * *

_Ann Maria follows Mike and Duncan outside and hides behind the wall to watch them. She sees Duncan push Mike up against the wall but she can't quite hear what they're saying. Ann Maria thinks she sees Mike glance her way and she pulls herself back against the wall so that she can't see him and Duncan. When she thinks it's safe, she peers around the wall again and Mike has his shirt off. Duncan seems to have finished with Mike and he walks off back in the direction of the bar. Ann Maria pulls herself against the wall again and Duncan passes her without a glance in her direction. She decides she needs a cigarette and heads over to Mike to see if he wants one._

_ "Hey, do you want one?" she offers, holding the open pack to him. He looks up at her._

_ "Ann Maria?" he asks in his Vito voice._

_ "Vito? I haven't seen you in ages!" Ann Maria exclaims._

_ "Come here baby," Vito says seductively. Ann Maria giggles and takes a step towards him. He pulls her in and kisses her. She knows with her boyfriend just inside she should pull away, but he's just so irresistible that she starts to kiss him back, throwing her arms around his neck with her cigarettes still in hand. Vito dips her and kisses her even more passionately. He brings her upright again and she reluctantly pulls away._

_ "I need to go to the bathroom," Ann Maria informs him. "Wait here for me?"_

_ "Of course baby," Vito agrees with a wink. Ann Maria giggles and heads inside to use the bathroom. She does her business and spends a couple of minutes checking herself in the mirror before going back outside. She stops dead when she sees Duncan holding the knife over Mike's dead body. It takes her a moment to realise what she sees seeing but when she does she lets out a scream. Duncan turns to her slowly, a look of terror in his eyes._

* * *

"So I called the cops and that was that," Ann Maria concludes.

"But Mike was definitely still alive after my client had threatened him?" Courtney questions.

"Yeah," Ann Maria answers.

"When he walked past you was he holding an envelope that might have contained money?"

"I don't know, I didn't take any notice. What does it matter? I saw that guy with the knife in his hands."

"Is it possible that in the time it took you to go to the bathroom and fix your hair and make-up, someone could have taken Duncan's knife from his pocket and used it to murder Mr Posey, left it in the body and run away? Then when Duncan was leaving the bar he saw the pocket knife that he knew belonged to him and took it without thinking?" Courtney asks. Ann Maria shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess so," she says as if she doesn't really care, which she probably doesn't. Courtney smiles in accomplishment, as if this has opened up something for her.

"Thank you Miss Waters, no further questions."


	5. Suspects

**Note: I know the last chapter was pretty much all information and very little Duncney, but there was some stuff I really needed to get out there. The chapter after this one will be mostly Duncney stuff. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter Five: Suspects**

"Did Zoey look shocked when Ann Maria said she kissed Mike?" Courtney asks Duncan that afternoon in the interview room.

"I don't know, she looked upset, heartbroken as usual," he replies.

"But was it a different kind of heartbroken?" Courtney presses. Duncan sighs in annoyance.

"I don't know, Courtney!" he snaps. "What does it matter?"

"Well if she already knew about Ann Maria and Mike then maybe we could have another suspect on our hands!" Courtney shoots back.

"You don't seriously think Zoey would murder her own fiancé? She loved that guy. _Loves _that guy," Duncan corrects himself, realising that even though Mike was dead, past tense doesn't apply in this respect.

"I envy her," Courtney mutters. Duncan raises an eyebrow.

"You're jealous of a girl because the guy she was crazy about is dead?" he asks disdainfully. Courtney glares at him.

"Yes," she snaps. "She knew when he died that he still loved her. She never has to wonder why he didn't want to be with her anymore, why he didn't explain himself when he left, why he didn't apologise when it was clear she was hurting. After this trial she has closure. She'll know that the man she loves was taken from her by someone who had a purpose. It was never of his own accord."

"Are you seriously so selfish that you're comparing how I cheated on you to how Zoey's fiancé was murdered?" Duncan wonders incredulously.

"You used to expect me to be selfish, now it's a surprise to you?" Courtney points out. "Even when Zoey found out that Mike cheated on her she knew it was because he literally wasn't himself. Maybe he lied to her about that but he probably had a good reason because he loved her. And I can't help but wonder if you ever loved me, and if you did, what changed?" Courtney stares into Duncan's eyes, but he doesn't have an answer for her.

"Why are we even talking about this? Why can't we just get back to the case?" Duncan whispers. Courtney gives a short laugh.

"What, now you can't handle confrontation?" she asks angrily. "You know what? I'm done for the day. The trial doesn't continue until Monday now, but I might see you tomorrow." She picks up her papers and leaves the room. Duncan puts his head in his hands, knowing he's screwed up again.

* * *

"I don't think I can do this anymore," Courtney tells Gwen and Bridgette that night when they arrive at her apartment.

"Do what?" Bridgette asks as they sit on the couch.

"This case," Courtney replies with a sigh. "Seeing Duncan everyday it's… It's really hard to just focus on the murder."

"I thought you were over the whole thing?" Gwen says, worried that if Courtney's still mad at Duncan then maybe she hasn't forgiven her yet either.

"I thought so too," Courtney says. "But I haven't seen him since he was arrested during Total Drama All-Stars, and seeing him again just brings back old feelings."

"Old feelings as in…?" Bridgette wonders.

"The hatred I had when he cheated on me," Courtney clarifies. "Why, what did you think I meant?"

"Oh nothing," Bridgette says quickly. Courtney narrows her eyes at her.

"Anyway, I'm not getting anywhere with this dumb case and no new ideas are coming to me," Courtney complains. "There were so many people in that bar that night, anyone could've taken the knife from Duncan's pocket and used it to kill Mike. Plus it doesn't help that it's winter and someone could've been wearing gloves without it looking suspicious." She sculls the last of her wine and puts her face in her hands.

"Maybe you've been looking at the case too long," Gwen suggests. "You need to get out of the house and forget about it, then come back to it with fresh eyes." Courtney nods.

"You're right, I need to get out of the house," Courtney agrees. "What were you two planning on doing tonight before I called you over?"

"Nothing really," Bridgette replies. "Geoff has a dinner on for him and his other hosting friends but partners weren't invited. We could go out if you want? There's a new club that's opened up we could check out."

"Yeah I think that sounds good," Courtney says. "Gwen? Are you in?"

"Um… Sure, why not?" Gwen decides. The three get ready to go and Bridgette drives them to the club she was talking about. The line to get in is long but Courtney decides to try and cut in since they've been on TV and is sure they'll get in.

"Sorry sweetheart, back of the line," the bouncer tells her.

"Do you know who I am?" she demands, stamping her foot. The bouncer just laughs at her and continues to let other people in.

"Do you know who _I _am?" he asks, still laughing. "I'm the bouncer to this club. I decide who gets in, and you aren't it." Courtney's jaw drops, offended by the man's refusal to let them in.

"It's okay Court, maybe we can just have a movie night," Gwen suggests. Courtney huffs.

"But we got all dressed up and I want to get in!" she whines.

"Gwen?" someone calls from the doors of the club. Gwen turns around to see Trent.

"Trent?" She walks over to the barrier and they hug over it. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I own this place," he tells her.

"You own this place?" she asks in shock. "Wow you've done well for yourself." He laughs.

"Yeah, I've done okay," he says modestly. "What are you girls doing? Won't George let you in?"

"No, Courtney tried the 'we're famous' card but that didn't exactly work," Gwen replies with a sheepish laugh. Trent whistles to get the bouncer's attention.

"Hey George, they're with me," he calls. The bouncer nods and gestures for them to come through. The three girls quickly hurry in past the barrier and walk into the club. Bridgette immediately goes to the bar to buy them all drinks.

"So Trent, how did you get into this? It must have cost a lot," Gwen shouts over the loud music.

"How about I tell you about it over a drink?" Trent suggests. Gwen nods and he leads her away to one of the tables. Courtney joins Bridgette by the bar.

"Gwen ditched," Courtney informs her.

"What do I do with her drink?" she asks in disappointment.

"Drink it?" Courtney suggests. Bridgette shrugs and does as she's told. "This place is amazing right?" Courtney looks around in admiration and her heart skips a beat when thinks she sees a green mohawk flash through the crowd. She shakes her head, knowing it must just be that she's spent too much time with Duncan over the past week. He's in prison. The thought disappoints her but she doesn't know why.

"Let's dance!" Bridgette shouts over the music, breaking Courtney from her thoughts. Courtney agrees and they head out onto the dance floor. They dance until they're thirsty, when they go back to the bar for another drink.

"I'm so glad we did this," Courtney tells Bridgette. "I'm really having a lot of fun. Thanks for getting me out of the house."

"Any time," Bridgette yells back.

"Hey! Get off my girlfriend!" Bridgette and Courtney hear someone yell. They turn their heads to see two men fighting on the dance floor.

"Dude, she's your _ex _girlfriend!" the other guy shouts back. The first man punches the other one square in the nose. He falls to the ground from the force of it and cups his nose as a girl helps him up.

"Jesus Artie, I told you it was over! Let it go!" the girl shouts at the man who threw the punch. She takes her new love interest away from Artie as Artie is dragged out by a couple of bouncers. Courtney grabs Bridgette's knee as she realises something.

"What's that for?" Bridgette asks in annoyance.

"If that guy was willing to beat up another guy over his _ex _girlfriend, how far do you think someone is willing to go over their _current _girlfriend?" Courtney asks rhetorically. "Danny was at the bar that night, I wonder if he saw…" Bridgette looks at Courtney in confusion.

"Saw what?" she wonders. Courtney looks at her as if she's just noticed she's there. She smiles at Bridgette.

"Nothing, let's just enjoy the night."


	6. Tension

**Chapter Six: Tension**

As soon as Courtney gets home she kicks off her shoes and runs to her notes to scrawl down Danny's motive and how he could've done it. She doesn't want to forget anything she'd thought of that night so she writes down everything she can think of before going to bed.

Courtney falls asleep almost as soon as her head hits the pillow. All of the late nights poring over the file and the notes she's taken during the trial have really taken it out of her, and partying all night with Gwen and Bridgette was as much as she could take. At least she was able to open up something new in the case.

As soon as she wakes up the next morning, Courtney dresses and makes her way to the prison. The security guard promptly brings Duncan in to see her. He grins when he sees her sitting there.

"Princess! I didn't think I'd be seeing you today," he tells her. She raises an eyebrow at him.

"Why not? I'm your lawyer," she says.

"You didn't exactly leave here yesterday on the best note," Duncan reminds her. "Have you come to apologise?" Courtney grits her teeth.

"That's funny, coming from you," she snaps.

"I'd almost forgotten how sharp your tongue was," Duncan smirks. "How about you put it in my mouth later?"

"How long has it been since you had sex?" Courtney wonders. "But more importantly, how desperate do you think I am?"

"Not long enough for me to hit on the security guard but long enough for me to hit on you," Duncan replies. "As for the second question, how long has it been since _you _had sex?" Courtney scoffs in horror.

"That is none of your business!" she scolds him. He shrugs.

"Hey, you asked me first," he points out.

"Let's just get down to business," Courtney says, trying to get back on track.

"If you say so," Duncan replies, beginning to unbutton his orange jumpsuit.

"Not what I meant! Button your shirt back up!" Courtney demands. Duncan does as he's told with a smirk on his face. "What happened to make you take everything sexually all of a sudden? What is this, eighth grade?"

"Look princess, I'm just getting really tired of this whole murder situation," he tells her. "I wanted to spice it up a bit."

"You're repulsive."

"So you've told me. Anyway, why is it that you so kindly decided to visit me today?" Duncan queries.

"Last night I saw a man start a fight with another man over his ex-girlfriend," Courtney begins. Duncan raises his eyebrows.

"You came here to gossip?" he asks. "Okay, well yesterday a guy got stabbed with a screwdriver because he took the last muffin. I don't know how the guy got the screwdriver in the first place, but I would like to find out." Courtney rolls her eyes.

"Are you done?" she asks. Duncan nods. "Great, well I'll have you know that the fight actually made me think of something that might get you out of trouble. If someone is prepared to beat up someone else over an ex-girlfriend, what do you think they might do if it was their current girlfriend?" Duncan shrugs.

"I don't know, murder?" he suggests. Courtney looks at him as she waits for him to realise. His face changes as it dawns on him. "You think Danny saw Ann Maria with Mike?" Courtney nods.

"We don't actually know anything about this Danny guy," Courtney continues. "He might be a thief, he could've seen your pocket knife in your pocket, taken it and stabbed Mike when Ann Maria went to the bathroom. And if he was wearing gloves he wouldn't have left any prints on the knife."

"Do people really kill for that kind of thing?" Duncan wonders.

"I know that when I heard about you and Gwen kissing I almost could have killed both of you," she admits. Duncan smiles sadly at her.

"I really miss you Courtney," he whispers.

"You've spent every day with me this week," she reminds him. He takes her hand in his and looks deep into her eyes.

"There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't thought about you," he tells her. "The moment I got with Gwen… It was a stupid, spiteful thing that I did. The only reason I didn't end it with her sooner is because I knew you wouldn't take me back." Courtney looks down at their hands and a tear falls down her cheek. For a moment Duncan thinks she's going to tell him she feels the same way, but she jerks her hand away and stands up.

"Maybe you should've thought of that before being a stupid, spiteful jerk," she spits. She picks up her things and walks towards the door.

"I didn't think it was possible for someone to hate anyone as much as you hate me," Duncan says. Courtney stops at the door. "Why is it that after all this time you _still _hate me that much?"

"Why do you think?" she asks without turning around. She storms out the door and heads back to her car, furious with Duncan for being so stupid. All she wants is to get the case over and done with so she never has to see that criminal again. But when she thinks about never seeing him again, something tears at her insides. What was happening to her? She'd forgotten about him, he was out of her life forever, and now he came selfishly barging back in and she wanted him to stay? And when did he get so poetic? _"There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't thought about you." _He's clearly been reading too many romance novels, Courtney thinks.

She drives around the city to try and clear her head. Why did Duncan always have to ruin everything? They were getting along okay before he practically admitted he still had feelings for her. Courtney drives to her office and parks out the front of the building. She grips the wheel as she thinks about storming up to Johnson's office and telling him she quits, she can't do it anymore, then buying a plane ticket to Hawaii or Australia where no one would shove Duncan in her face again. She takes a few deep breaths, knowing it's a bad idea, and instead drives back home.

* * *

Courtney is fast asleep when her phone rings at almost midnight that night. She feels around her bedside table in the dark for the light and turns it on when she finally finds it.

"Hello?" she answers groggily when she picks up the phone.

"Courtney, hey!" someone says back to her.

"Duncan?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's me," he replies, happy that she could recognise his voice.

"Why are you calling me so late? And how did they let you use the phone? Why didn't they just tell you it could wait until morning?" Courtney wonders.

"I told them it was an emergency," Duncan tells her. This wakes her up properly, thinking there must really be something wrong.

"Are you okay? What happened? Did your roommate find a screwdriver and stab you with it?"

"Stop with the questions, no it isn't really an emergency I just… I needed to tell you something," he says. Courtney groans.

"Why couldn't this have waited until the morning, Duncan?" she complains. "I haven't had much sleep this week."

"I'm really sorry," he says, and he sounds sincere. Courtney sighs.

"Whatever, just tell me what it is you need to so I can get some rest," she tells him. Duncan gives a small laugh.

"That was it. I'm really sorry. For everything. I realised I'd never said it before, and I needed to. I'm sorry, Courtney. I wish I didn't have to be, but I really am." Courtney rubs her eyes tiredly.

"You're just saying that because you haven't had enough sleep," she says. "Go to bed, Duncan. The security guard will probably be mad at you for using the phone when it wasn't a real emergency."

"No, I'm saying it because I mean it," Duncan insists. "Just accept my apology, or don't, but I want you to know that I mean it."

"I believe you," Courtney whispers, and she does.

"Good. As for the security guard thing, turns out when you have a sappy story they're able to relate and let you do things they normally wouldn't," Duncan informs her. She laughs and he smiles at the sound of it.

"Goodnight Duncan, thank you for the apology." Courtney hangs up the phone, and suddenly she is able to sleep much easier.


	7. Bad Luck and Trouble

**Chapter Seven: Bad Luck and Trouble**

"Danny Foreman," Courtney greets Ann Maria's boyfriend on the stand that Monday when the trial returns. "You are currently in a relationship with Ann Maria Waters, is this correct?"

"You know it," Danny replies with a wink in Ann Maria's direction.

"How long have you and Miss Waters been dating?" Courtney asks.

"Three years, almost exactly," Danny tells her proudly.

"Tell me Danny," Courtney says sweetly. "Are you a jealous boyfriend? Are you likely to react if someone has their eye on Ann Maria?"

"What, you mean like beat them up?" he asks. "Yeah I would! If some guy was harassing my girl I'd straight up punch him in the face!"

"But what if they weren't harassing her?" Courtney wonders. "What if Ann Maria was interested in the person who was pursuing her?"

"Same situation, you know?" Danny replies, oblivious to where this is going. "If Ann Maria wants to leave me, I'd be devastated, but I'd let her go. But if the guy was trying to get at her while we were still together I'd start a fight."

"Do you have a criminal record, Mr Foreman?" Courtney asks, slowly getting to the point of her questioning.

"Aw, I've stolen some things, same as anyone," he admits.

"Have you ever pick-pocketed? Stolen from someone's pocket as they were passing you without them feeling it?" she continues. Danny laughs nervously.

"Maybe once or twice," he tells her.

"You've already told us that if someone was hitting on Ann Maria you would fight them, but what would you do if you saw someone kissing her while you were still together?" Courtney finally asks.

"I'd kill the bastard!" Danny shouts. The jury murmurs words of shock to each other as the rest of the courtroom talks to each other loudly about Danny's almost-confession. Courtney smiles smugly at Danny. The judge bangs his gavel down.

"Order in the courtroom!" he demands, and everyone goes silent.

"Thank you Mr Foreman, no further questions," Courtney says. She returns to her seat and crosses her legs happily.

"Good job," Duncan whispers to her. She gives him a small smile in response and turns her attention to Mr Jones who is about to begin his cross-examination of Danny. Jones clears his throat.

"Mr Foreman, did you know the deceased, Mike Posey?" Mr Jones asks.

"Who?" Danny wonders.

"Just as I suspected," Jones says. "Were you wearing gloves on the night of Mr Posey's murder?"

"Well I mean it's winter so yeah, probably," Danny replies.

"Did you happen to take a pocket knife from anyone's pockets that night? Or perhaps pick one up that someone might have dropped?" Jones queries. Danny thinks for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I don't think so," he says.

"Did you happen to see your girlfriend kissing the victim on that night?"

"Nah man, the first I heard of that was yesterday when Ann Maria was telling the story," Danny says calmly. "She says she's sorry and she'll never do it again. I guess she can't now that the guy's dead." Danny smirks but quickly covers it up with a cough and straightens his face again.

"Do you know this man?" Jones asks, gesturing to Duncan.

"Yeah, his face is all over the papers," Danny answers. "Didn't he kill that guy or something?" Courtney shakes her head at the man's stupidity.

"Do you even know why you're here, Mr Foreman?" Mr Jones wonders.

"To answer questions?" Danny asks. Jones laughs in frustration.

"You're here because your girlfriend's lover, Mike Posey was murdered," he informs Danny. "Mr Colleano over here is accused of the murder, and we're trying to find out if he is the one who did it or not. Is there anything you need to tell us about that night that might help us?" Danny's face turns white with fear.

"Was that lady before accusing me of killing that guy?" he asks in horror. "Because I didn't do anything, I didn't even know about Ann Maria and that guy being together, I thought maybe she'd gone outside for a smoke or somethin'!"

"Calm down, Mr Foreman," Mr Jones tells Danny. "We aren't accusing you of anything at the moment. Thank you for your time, no further questions."

* * *

"I know it was him," Courtney says confidently when Duncan enters the interview room that afternoon. She's leaning against the desk with her arms folded. Duncan takes a seat and leans back in it.

"You don't know anything for sure," Duncan counters. "He looked pretty shocked when he realised what you were accusing him of."

"Well then who else could it be, huh?" Courtney demands. "You're positive it isn't you or Danny and Zoey had left the bar before you'd even threatened Mike. You think Ann Maria did it? What's her motive?"

"Hey, relax, there has to be someone else," Duncan tells her calmly.

"Does there? It has to be Danny! He's the only one!" Courtney says, raising her voice. "I just need to get a confession from him, but he's clearly thought about the whole thing. Act stupid and oblivious and you're sure to get off. That should've been your strategy, although I guess you were guilty from the moment you took the knife."

"Are you kidding me?" Duncan asks incredulously. "You _still _think I did it?"

"I don't know, Duncan! I don't know what to believe anymore," Courtney yells.

"Believe me! I'm your boyfr- your client! I'm your client," Duncan shouts back, correcting himself mid-sentence.

"Then act like it!" Courtney orders. Duncan takes her face in his hands and kisses her, partially because he wants her to shut up but mostly because he's been wanting to since he saw her for the first time last week. He expects her to pull away and slap him, but instead she kisses him back with a passion she's never had before. He lifts her up and sits her on the desk and she wraps her arms around his neck. Duncan puts his hands up Courtney's blouse and unhooks her bra before resting his hands on her knees and sliding them up her thighs. She starts unbuttoning his jumpsuit and he lays her down on the desk, still with his hands up her skirt.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Duncan whispers through the kisses. Courtney shuts him up by putting his hands on her chest.

"If I didn't want to do you think I would?" she points out before continuing to kiss him hungrily. _She must be going through a pretty long drought, _Duncan thinks.

* * *

Courtney hastily dresses herself as Duncan watches her fondly, not bothering to get dressed in any hurry.

"You don't think they heard me, do you?" she asks worriedly, buttoning up her blouse. "These walls are soundproof…" Duncan grins at her.

"I don't know, you were pretty loud," he says with a smirk. She glares at him.

"Get over yourself!" she scolds him. "If anyone asks, this never happened, got it? I don't want you ruining my image."

"Aw, come on princess," Duncan whines. "I've never had a conjugal visit before, can I at least tell my cell mate?" Courtney scoffs.

"I don't think so!" she refuses.

"Fine," he reluctantly agrees. "It's kind of ironic, isn't it? A lawyer and a criminal. You know I was thinking next time they get me on the stand I would yell 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman!'" He chuckles at his own joke.

"This is all a joke to you isn't it?" Courtney says. "You've been accused of murder, Duncan! Not only would you be lying when you're under oath if you said that, it would also be incredibly unhelpful and stupid."

"Calm down, I wasn't really going to say that," Duncan assures her. "Don't you remember how to have fun? I thought I taught you well. You've gone back to your old ways."

"I tried to forget everything you taught me when you betrayed me," she tells him. "The one time we stole food from Chef's fridge included." Duncan looks hurt by this.

"Maybe I need to teach you fun again," he says. "I'll take you out sometime and I'll show you the good parts of the city."

"You can't, Duncan, you're in prison," Courtney reminds him. "And unless I can get a confession out of Danny, it's going to stay that way. This was a mistake. I need to go home." Duncan isn't sure what Courtney thinks is a mistake; taking his case, coming to see him this afternoon, or having sex with him, but he's sure she regrets all three. He watches her leave for what seems like the millionth time, and it's just as painful as it was the first time.


	8. Disproval

**Chapter Eight: Disproval**

There are papers all over the floor once more as Courtney sorts through all of her notes from the trial, searching for something that might prove Danny's guilt. It's well past midnight, but she hasn't glanced at the clock since nine, being so invested in her research that nothing else matters. She keeps glancing at the phone, hoping that Duncan might give her another late night call, but he doesn't.

Courtney's alarm goes off at eight o'clock the next morning, jolting her awake. She'd fallen asleep on her notes and a page sticks to her face as she sits up. She checks the time and hurries to have a quick shower before heading to court to continue the trial.

"You look terrible," Duncan greets her as she goes to sit down. She glares at him and he winks back.

"Thank you, I always try to look my worst for you," she snaps. "For your information, I've been up all night trying to figure out a way to get Danny to confess, or at least a way to prove he did it, so you'd think you could be a little more grateful."

"You would think that, but I'd also like you to consider that I've been sleeping on the most uncomfortable bed ever made for that past couple of weeks."

"And yet you still look so attractive whenever I see you!" Courtney says sarcastically. "I have no sympathy for you. Whether or not you did kill Mike, you're still a criminal. I don't think you ever had to do the time for that mug you stole back on Total Drama Island." Duncan laughs.

"I still have that mug, you know," he tells her. "It reminds me of you."

"And I still have that skull you gave me when I was eliminated."

"Really?" Duncan asks excitedly.

"You'll never know," Courtney replies with a smirk. The judge enters the courtroom and brings the court to session. Mr Jones rises.

"Your honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he addresses the court. "My colleague Miss Holland-Free has led you to believe that Mr Danny Foreman is the man who murdered Mike Posey. It makes sense; he had the means, the motive and the opportunity. However, before you give your final verdict on that matter I would like to invite someone else to the stand. You see, Miss Ann Maria Waters was not only accompanied by her partner that night, she also mentioned a friend. Which is why I would like to invite Shauna Gibbons to the stand."

"Miss Shauna Gibbons please take to the stand," the bailiff requests. Courtney looks worried at this development, but Duncan still isn't sure where this is going. Shauna takes the oath and sits down at the stand.

"Miss Gibbons…" Mr Jones begins.

"Please, call me Shauna," she requests. Mr Jones bows his head.

"Of course. Shauna, were you aware of Ann Maria's infidelity?" he asks. Shauna looks at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not really sure what that word means," she admits.

"My apologies. Did you know that Ann Maria was cheating on her boyfriend with the deceased?" he asks, rephrasing the question. Shauna laughs.

"Oh, she told me all about her little fling with that guy on that show she was on," Shauna informs him. "Plus I watched it all when it was on TV. She wasn't with Danny at this time, though, so I think she only cheated on him that once."

"Were you aware that it was happening at the time?"

"Yeah, when she got up and left she kind of gave me a look that told me I should keep Danny distracted while she took care of some stuff," Shauna says.

"Did you see Ann Maria go into the bathroom?" Jones wonders. Shauna nods.

"She gave me another look as she passed me and Danny to go to the bathroom that said she wasn't done yet," she tells the court. "I was proud of the girl, you know? She was having a bit of fun, I wasn't going to get in the way of that."

"So you were with Danny all night? From the moment Ann Maria left to see Mr Posey until the end of the night?" Jones asks. Courtney shakes her head in disbelief.

"If you mean until we heard Ann Maria scream, then yeah," Shauna replies. "As soon as we heard her we were out the door like a shot. We thought something had happened to her, and I guess it had. Discovering a dead body like that would cause some kind of trauma."

"But Danny never left your side, even for a second to go to the bathroom or talk to someone else, from that period of time?" Jones presses.

"I already told you no, okay? Danny was with me from start to finish," Shauna snaps, getting tired of the same questions. Courtney hangs her head and clutches the back of her neck with both her hands in frustration.

"Thank you, Miss Gibbons." Jones smiles at Courtney as he returns to his seat and she glares at him in return. She stands up and sighs deeply, exhausted from staying up so late the night before and annoyed that it was all for nothing.

"Shauna, did you see the deceased at all that night?" she asks.

"Nah, I don't think so. I mean, maybe when he walked in but that was it," Shauna says. Courtney nods and rubs her eyes tiredly.

"Did you see my client?" She gestures to Duncan. Shauna studies him before nodding.

"Yeah, I saw him talking to some redhead."

"When was that?" Courtney queries, thinking if Shauna didn't see Mike he must have blended into the crowd so it looked like Duncan was talking to Zoey instead of him.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember," Shauna apologises.

"That's okay. Thank you, Shauna, no further questions." Courtney sits back down and stifles a yawn as the judge calls it a day. She immediately returns home to have a midday nap.

She isn't sure how long she's slept when she's woken by the phone ringing. She glances at the clock which reads 5pm and answers the phone.

"Hello?" she answers, thinking and hoping that it's Duncan. She's disappointed, however, when Bridgette's voice greets her.

"How's the trial going?" Bridgette asks. "I would be coming but I don't think I could sit through it, not knowing if it's going to turn out well or not."

"It was going good, until Jones had to bring in Ann Maria's friend for questioning," Courtney complains. "I was so close to getting Danny put in jail instead of Duncan but it turns out he didn't do it." She sighs and Bridgette laughs.

"Did you only just wake up? You sound like you're half asleep," she notes.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, leave me alone," Courtney says defensively. "But my nap did make me feel much more refreshed, thanks for asking."

"Court, I'm really worried about you. You're getting hardly any sleep and are you even eating anything?"

"I'm eating enough to get me through. And I'll be able to sleep soundly when I have closure. When Duncan apologised on Saturday night I slept like a baby, because I finally had closure from when he kissed Gwen."

"That's the other thing I'm worried about… Are you sure this is just about the case?" Bridgette wonders. "You've been spending a lot of time with Duncan and, well, Gwen and I are beginning to wonder…" Courtney scoffs as a kind of denial. She hadn't told Bridgette or Gwen about what she and Duncan had done yesterday.

"Believe me, that is well and truly past," she lies. "I will be glad to never see that guy again after this whole case is over. Anyway, I have to go I have another call coming through. Thanks for your concern, bye!" She quickly hangs up before Bridgette gets a chance to protest and answers her other call.

"Courtney!" Duncan says, and he sounds relieved, like he thought she wouldn't pick up. Courtney's heart flutters when she hears his voice and she silently curses herself for acting like a love struck teenager.

"Hi, Duncan, what's up?" she asks.

"During the trial today, I remembered something," he tells her.

"Why didn't you call me sooner, then?" she demands angrily.

"I thought you might like an afternoon nap," he says.

"Well if it's to do with the case I would've preferred if you'd called me straight away," Courtney scolds him.

"I'll keep that in mind. Can you come visit me?" Duncan requests. Courtney thinks about it for a moment, wondering whether it's worth seeing him again. She didn't want a repeat of the day before.

"I'll be there in five."


	9. New Evidence

**Chapter Nine: New Evidence**

"Hey, I'm glad you could come see me," Duncan says thankfully when he is shoved into the interview room for what he hopes is the last time, if what he has to tell Courtney is any help.

"Of course, anything for the case," Courtney replies, but what she means is _Anything for you._Duncan sits down across from Courtney and looks into her eyes.

"I really hope this helps," he tells her. "I've been thinking over the exact details and I think it makes a lot of sense…"

"Just get on with the story," Courtney commands. "I need some kind of new lead so anything that seems even remotely helpful, I need to know." Duncan nods.

"So remember last week in the courtroom, after you'd finished questioning Zoey, I told you that wasn't really what happened, and you said we'd talk about it later," he reminds her. Courtney nods to say she remembers. "Well I forgot about it until Shauna said she saw me talking to Zoey." Courtney waits for him to continue.

"Okay, so what happened?" she prompts him.

"Well, you know that I went outside to get the money from Mike," Duncan begins.

* * *

_Duncan walks ahead of Mike as they turn into the alley next to the bar, away from the street lights so no one can see. Mike follows slowly behind, constantly glancing behind him with the fear that someone's watching them._

_ "Are you sure we should be doing this here? It seems kind of dangerous…" Mike asks hesitantly._

_ "Here is as good a place as any," Duncan says firmly. "Do you have the money?" Mike is still looking around nervously._

_ "It's just, this place is a little shady, and I don't feel good about leaving Zoey inside," he continues. Duncan pushes Mike against the wall threateningly, holding him up by the front of his shirt so tightly it begins to tear._

_ "Do you have the money, or not?" Duncan asks through gritted teeth. Mike pulls out an envelope and hands it to Duncan. Duncan snatches it and lets Mike go so roughly that his shirt rips completely at the back. Duncan glances at the shirt and walks away, still holding it._

_ He heads to the bathroom and when he comes back out to the bar, Zoey rushes up to him, tears streaming down her face._

_ "Thank god you're here, I need to talk to someone I know," she sobs._

_ "Mike's just outside, why don't you go talk to him?" Duncan says, trying to make her go away._

_ "It's about Mike!" Zoey cries, trying to brush away the tears and being unsuccessful since she's wearing mittens. "We were friends once, right?"_

_ "I said some things to you that weren't mean, I don't think that makes us friends," Duncan counters. Zoey wraps her arms around Duncan's waist and sobs into his shirt. He pushes her away and looks around, hoping no one saw them._

_ "Okay, that's enough," he snaps. "I need a drink." Duncan sits down at the bar and orders while Zoey runs off, seeming more upset than before._

_ After finishing his drink, Duncan decides he needs a cigarette and heads outside to do so. When he does, however, he sees Mike's dead body laying in the snow with Duncan's pocket knife sticking out of his chest. Duncan pulls his pocket knife from the body and as soon as he does he hears a scream right behind him. He turns around to see Ann Maria, hastily getting her phone from her pocket and calling the police._

_ "Aw, shit," Duncan says._

* * *

"Zoey didn't leave when she said she did," Courtney whispers when Duncan finishes his story. He shakes his head. "She didn't leave when she said she did, you think she killed her fiancé? What about all of this stuff about her loving him?"

"She seemed pretty upset when she was talking to me, she probably saw Ann Maria kissing Mike," Duncan points out. "Since she didn't know his personalities were back, she wouldn't have known it wasn't really him."

"And when she hugged you she grabbed your pocket knife!" Courtney adds excitedly. "I remember Harold saying that fifty per cent of the time, the murderer is the husband or wife…" Duncan leans back in his chair in accomplishment.

"And you said yourself adultery is one of the main reasons for murder. Is there any way you can prove it?" he asks. "They'll probably think I'm lying if I just get up on the stand and tell this story, especially since I didn't tell it straight up. They'll think it was something you came up with to get me off."

"Yeah, I think there is something…" Courtney says thoughtfully. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but most bars and clubs have security cameras at the doors. If I can get my hands on the footage from that night we'll be able to prove that Zoey didn't leave when she said she did, and then she'll have something to answer for." They grin at each other, excited to have finally figured it out. Courtney clears her throat and picks up her bag. "Uh, well I should go. I need to get that tape." Duncan grabs her hand as she starts to walk away. She turns to face him.

"Watching you leave is the worst part of my day," he whispers. "I don't know if I can do it anymore." Courtney squeezes his hand and gives him a small smile.

"If this tape proves what you've told me, this will be the last time you have to," she assures him. The way she says it makes it sound like she doesn't want to leave him either, but knowing Courtney he doesn't think she understood what he was telling her and he's worried that after the case is over she'll leave him and never come back. That's something he doesn't want to go through.


	10. Case Closed

**Chapter Ten: Case Closed**

"MrColleano, could you please tell the jury the full story of what happened on the night of Mike's murder?" Courtney requests the next day at the trial when she's gotten Duncan on the stand.

"Of course," Duncan obliges, and he recounts what he told Courtney the night before. When he finishes the story he sighs deeply from nervousness.

"Why is it that you didn't offer this information up earlier?" Courtney asks so that Jones doesn't get a chance to turn the tables.

"I'd completely forgotten that it happened until Shauna said she saw me talking to a redhead," Duncan replies. "I didn't think it would be relevant at the time it happened so it wasn't something that really stuck out in my mind."

"Thank you, Duncan, no further questions," Courtney says. She turns to face Mr Jones.

"Mr Jones, do you have any questions for the defendant?" the judge asks. Jones shakes his head, a small smile on his face as if to say this wasn't enough to get Duncan off the hook.

"MrColleano, you may stand down," the bailiff grants Duncan. Duncan returns to his seat and Courtney smiles at him to say 'good job.'

"If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to ask Miss Zoey Cordwell to the stand one last time," Courtney tells the judge. He nods in approval and the bailiff calls Zoey to the stand. She takes the oath and sits down. "Miss Cordwell, before I ask you any questions and you get the chance to deny what Duncan has just told us, I'd like to play the CCTV footage taken on the night of Mike's murder. The camera is situated at the entrance of the bar, so it shows when everyone entered and exited the bar that night." Zoey's eyes widen as Courtney uses the same projector Jones did on the first day to show the picture of Duncan and Mike. "Here we have my client entering the bar, and if we fast forward a bit we have you and your fiancé entering a few minutes later." Courtney fast forwards some more to when Duncan and Mike come outside.

"As you can see, Ann Maria follows soon after, then Duncan returns inside," Courtney continues. "Zoey exits, then quickly goes back inside, proving she didn't leave straight away, as she said she did. If we go further forward, Ann Maria goes back inside, Zoey comes back out, shortly followed by my client and then Ann Maria once again, which is when she saw Duncan holding the knife." Courtney stops the tape and turns to Zoey.

"How did you get this?" Zoey asks. Courtney smiles smugly at her.

"I'll ask the questions, if you don't mind," she says. "Miss Cordwell, why did you feel the need to lie about when you left the bar?"

"I-I… I didn't know… I mean…" Zoey stutters.

"More importantly, what were you doing in the time between when you re-entered the bar and the second time you exited?" Courtney wonders.

"Well, I can explain, I was…" Zoey tries. Courtney can tell she's making Zoey as uncomfortable as Jones made Duncan on the first day, and it was a good feeling.

"And when you left for the second time, you would have passed Mike and had the opportunity to kill him before running home," Courtney continues. "Not to mention you wouldn't have left any prints on the knife, which you stole when you hugged my client, because you were wearing mittens!" Zoey is starting to cry and Courtney feels kind of bad, but she knows it's for the good of the case.

"Okay, it was me!" Zoey yells, letting her tears fall freely. There's a unanimous gasp throughout the courtroom. "I killed my fiancé and I hate myself every day because of it."

* * *

_Mike and Duncan leave Zoey in the bar and, feeling very uncomfortable, she orders a drink to take the edge off. She looks around the bar warily, hoping that Mike comes back soon._

_ She sees Duncan come back inside and figures Mike must be waiting for her outside. Zoey jumps down from her bar stool and goes outside to find him. As she turns the corner she sees him kissing Ann Maria. She stands there in shock for a moment, not fully believing what she's seeing._

_ Without a word, Zoey runs back inside, tears already forming in her eyes. She looks around for any familiar face, needing some kind of comfort. She feels lost and alone, making her more and more upset by the minute. Finally, she spots Duncan coming out from the bathroom and hurries up to him, remembering that during All-Stars he showed a bit of a soft spot._

_ "Thank god you're here, I need to talk to someone I know," she sobs._

_ "Mike's just outside, why don't you go talk to him?" Duncan says. This makes her cry even harder. He clearly doesn't understand the problem._

_ "It's about Mike!" Zoey cries, trying to brush away the tears and being unsuccessful since she's wearing mittens. "We were friends once, right?"_

_ "I said some things to you that weren't mean, I don't think that makes us friends," Duncan counters. Duncan's rudeness is making Zoey annoyed, and she wraps her arms around Duncan's waist and sobs into his shirt. She gently pulls his knife from his pocket, thinking that if he was going to be rude to her she was going to get him back. He pushes her away and looks around, hoping no one saw them._

_ "Okay, that's enough," he snaps. "I need a drink." Duncan walks off to the bar and Zoey runs back outside to confront Mike. Ann Maria has gone, to Zoey's relief._

_ "Mike, how could you?" Zoey demands of Mike. He raises his eyebrows at her in confusion._

_ "How could I what, babydoll?" he wonders._

_ "I saw you with Ann Maria," she tells him. Mike smirks._

_ "Oh yeah, I really scored with that one, huh?" he says. Zoey looks at him in disbelief._

_ "You're not even going to deny it?" she asks, a new round of tears falling down her cheeks. She doesn't bother trying to wipe them away this time._

_ "Why would I deny it?" Mike wonders. "She's hot!" Zoey slips off her left mitten and pulls off her ring to show it to Mike._

_ "Doesn't this mean anything to you?" she whispers, her voice straining._

_ "Pfft, why should it?" he asks. He snatches the ring and throws it down the street, where it lands a few metres down the footpath. Zoey feels the knife still in her right hand and flicks it open._

_ "I thought you loved me!" she cries. Mike just laughs at her, and that's the last straw. Zoey rams the knife into Mike's chests and he stumbles backwards. She stabs him a few more times to let out all of her emotions, then takes a couple of steps back in horror._

_ "What have I done?" she whispers. She looks around to make sure no one saw her and runs off down the street, picking up her ring as she passes it and is well and truly gone from the scene when Ann Maria's blood-curdling scream echoes around the neighbourhood._

* * *

Courtney turns back to Duncan with a huge grin on her face. She races up to him and jumps on him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He hugs her back with just as much enthusiasm.

"We did it!" she murmurs into his ear.

"No," he whispers back. "You did it." He pulls away from the hug and smiles at her. The rest of the courtroom is going crazy and the judge bangs his gavel down.

"Order! Order in the courtroom!" he shouts over top of everyone. Eventually everyone silences, except for Zoey who is still sobbing uncontrollably. "Miss Zoey Cordwell, you are sentenced to twenty-five years prison with a minimum of seven years before being eligible for parole." He bangs his gavel again and everyone stands to leave. The bailiff removes Duncan's handcuffs and Duncan turns to Courtney again.

"Now that I'm no longer a prisoner, I guess I can show you the good parts of the city, as promised," he says with a grin.

"Okay," Courtney agrees, smiling back.

"Seriously?" Duncan asks, both excited and surprised. Courtney nods.

"Didn't you hear me yesterday?" she says. "That was the last time you ever had to see me leave." She pulls the front of Duncan's jumpsuit towards her and brings his lips to hers. There are a couple of wolf-whistle's and cheers from past Total Drama contestants who had come to watch the trial, but Duncan and Courtney are completely oblivious as they stand in the middle of the courtroom, still kissing. Duncan lifts Courtney up and sits her on the desk.

"No sex in the courtroom!" the bailiff shouts at them. They pull away from each other and laugh.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Courtney asks.

"You know I do," Duncan replies. Courtney takes his hand and they run from the courtroom, laughing like children.

* * *

**Note: Thanks for reading this story and well done to everyone who guessed it was Zoey! I would've liked to have dragged it out a bit more but I felt there wasn't a lot more that I could add. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!**


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